March 18, 2017
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery
Penn State Women's Basketball
Penn State vs. Ohio
WNIT ââ'¬" First Round
March 17, 2017
Coquese Washington | Penn State Head Coach
Q: What were your overall feelings on how today's game went?
CW: I think we started out a little slow. Then we picked up and got better each quarter and found more of an offensive rhythm. I think with the time off, it took us a little bit to get into that rhythm, but once we found that [rhythm], I think we were find.
Q: After you went down early, what was said in that timeout?
CW: I really just said, "We had a few minutes to get our legs under us and see how they were going to play, but now we have to adjust and start executing on the things we worked on in practice." I think that is what we did.
Q: How much did it mean to see Sierra Moore, a senior, have a big night tonight?
CW: I am not surprised by Sierra. She plays hard every night. She is explosive and energetic, and I knew she would come out tonight and work really hard to help her team win.
Q: What have you seen out of Siyeh Frazier that warranted more playing time?
CW: She has been practicing really well and has fresh, energetic legs. She gets out in transition for us and she got a couple of big offensive rebounds for us. It is good to see her progressing and playing with a lot of confidence right now.
Q: What can a game like tonight do for Siyeh's confidence?
CW: It does a lot for her. It starts in practice and she has been practicing well, but to see her carry that over to the game can really help her a lot.
Sierra Moore | Gr./Sr. | G
Q: You scored 20 points tonight, but what was it like to play in front of the home crowd?
SM: We love our fans. They give us a lot of energy, so every time we get to play at home we try to play really well because we feed off that energy. We really appreciate our fans and are happy to be playing at home.
Q: Usually it's Teniya [Page] putting up the big numbers, but a lot of players had big showings tonight, what does this say about the versatility of your team?
SM: We are a really unselfish team so everyone is willing to do whatever it takes. Whatever is working that night is what we go with. If a team switches it up, we just do what we have to. We have a lot of strengths on our team and everyone is capable, so whenever it is your time to shine and fill that role, that is what we fall to."
Siyeh Frazier | Fr./Fr. | G
Q: What is it like to be a freshman putting up 10 points in a big game?
SF: I think what helped me most in tonight's game was my teammates and them being able to trust me. And me knowing that they had that trust in me to make shots.
Q: Lindsay Spann seemed very excited when you were scoring, what had she been saying to you throughout the game?
SF: Lindsey, along with everyone on the team, all support me a lot. Lindsay Spann and Sierra Moore have especially had had my back since the first day I stepped into the gym at Penn State.
Bob Bolden | Ohio Head Coach
Q: What are your overall feelings about the game today?
BB: [Penn State] is really good. They have a nice team and did a lot of things well; guarded well, and rebounded the heck out of the ball. They've got a nice team.
Q: Could you talk about Sierra Moore and what was hard to stop about her tonight with 20 points?
BB: She's really good, too. I thought she did a tremendous job of getting to the rim. I thought she was really efficient with her dribbles, and then she finished at a very high rate. She certainly was a handful.
Q: Penn State switched to a zone and it seemed to disrupt your offense. What happened with they made that adjustment? It seemed like you started settling for a lot of 3-pointers.
BB: I thought maybe [there were] one or two [shots] I didn't love, but I we're one of the top ten 3-point shooting teams in the country. You've got to shoot them to make them. And we shot them and unfortunately didn't make them tonight.
Q: After the first quarter, Penn State recovered and was able to get a jump on your team. What do you think happened?
BB: I thought we got off to a nice start, and like any good team, [Penn State] was going to respond. I thought Penn State responded well and came out with a little more intensity. We made some shots early, and then we didn't make some shots the rest of the quarter. Some would say the rest of the game, and it's going to be hard to score that way. I thought exactly what you would expect them to do. I thought they responded well from the early deficit and came out and played with a little more energy, got to the rim and did a nice job in that regard.
Q: What can your team learn moving forward after playing Penn State just in the long run?
BB: You can't shoot a low percentages and win. You can beat some teams, and we'll play maybe a non-conference game here and there that we might beat somebody shooting 27% from 3-point range and 37% from the floor. You're not going to beat any good teams that way, and obviously we've got plenty of time this summer to work on that and some pretty good young kids coming back. We'll work on that, try to get better at shooting the ball and hopefully have another chance.
Q: You seemed to make a run at the end of the game and the defensive pressure was there. What does that say about your team? You were down 14 with less than 2 minutes to go and they just kept fighting until the end.
A: I thought they showed a lot of resiliency, and we happened to have a lot of seniors on the floor at that point. I think sense of urgency really hits home with your seniors. This tournament is always a little hit or miss, because you don't really know how much your kids really want to play anymore. You have these aspirations of trying to make the NCAA Tournament and you don't. Then you've got to decide how hard and how interested you are in playing in the WNIT, and I thought our kids showed great desire to play this game. They were very excited and came out to a good start. As you mentioned, they finished pretty strong just caught a little bit of a lull in the middle they couldn't quite recover from. I thought our effort and our desire and interest in playing was tremendous, just didn't quite go our way.
Q: How would you describe your group of girls and the season that you guys had?
A: I have a lot of respect for the group in that locker room. The freshmen class when they came in had one of the worst records in school history, and then they put together three consecutive 20-win seasons. I'll always forever have a lot of respect for what that senior class has been able to do in turning our program around.